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Elucidating a locus coeruleus-dentate gyrus dopamine pathway for operant reinforcement.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Petter, EA; Fallon, IP; Hughes, RN; Watson, GDR; Meck, WH; Ulloa Severino, FP; Yin, HH
Published in: eLife
April 2023

Animals can learn to repeat behaviors to earn desired rewards, a process commonly known as reinforcement learning. While previous work has implicated the ascending dopaminergic projections to the basal ganglia in reinforcement learning, little is known about the role of the hippocampus. Here, we report that a specific population of hippocampal neurons and their dopaminergic innervation contribute to operant self-stimulation. These neurons are located in the dentate gyrus, receive dopaminergic projections from the locus coeruleus, and express D1 dopamine receptors. Activation of D1 + dentate neurons is sufficient for self-stimulation: mice will press a lever to earn optogenetic activation of these neurons. A similar effect is also observed with selective activation of the locus coeruleus projections to the dentate gyrus, and blocked by D1 receptor antagonism. Calcium imaging of D1 + dentate neurons revealed significant activity at the time of action selection, but not during passive reward delivery. These results reveal the role of dopaminergic innervation of the dentate gyrus in supporting operant reinforcement.

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Published In

eLife

DOI

EISSN

2050-084X

ISSN

2050-084X

Publication Date

April 2023

Volume

12

Start / End Page

e83600

Related Subject Headings

  • Reinforcement, Psychology
  • Receptors, Dopamine D1
  • Mice
  • Locus Coeruleus
  • Hippocampus
  • Dopamine
  • Dentate Gyrus
  • Animals
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
 

Citation

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Petter, E. A., Fallon, I. P., Hughes, R. N., Watson, G. D. R., Meck, W. H., Ulloa Severino, F. P., & Yin, H. H. (2023). Elucidating a locus coeruleus-dentate gyrus dopamine pathway for operant reinforcement. ELife, 12, e83600. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.83600
Petter, Elijah A., Isabella P. Fallon, Ryan N. Hughes, Glenn D. R. Watson, Warren H. Meck, Francesco Paolo Ulloa Severino, and Henry H. Yin. “Elucidating a locus coeruleus-dentate gyrus dopamine pathway for operant reinforcement.ELife 12 (April 2023): e83600. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.83600.
Petter EA, Fallon IP, Hughes RN, Watson GDR, Meck WH, Ulloa Severino FP, et al. Elucidating a locus coeruleus-dentate gyrus dopamine pathway for operant reinforcement. eLife. 2023 Apr;12:e83600.
Petter, Elijah A., et al. “Elucidating a locus coeruleus-dentate gyrus dopamine pathway for operant reinforcement.ELife, vol. 12, Apr. 2023, p. e83600. Epmc, doi:10.7554/elife.83600.
Petter EA, Fallon IP, Hughes RN, Watson GDR, Meck WH, Ulloa Severino FP, Yin HH. Elucidating a locus coeruleus-dentate gyrus dopamine pathway for operant reinforcement. eLife. 2023 Apr;12:e83600.

Published In

eLife

DOI

EISSN

2050-084X

ISSN

2050-084X

Publication Date

April 2023

Volume

12

Start / End Page

e83600

Related Subject Headings

  • Reinforcement, Psychology
  • Receptors, Dopamine D1
  • Mice
  • Locus Coeruleus
  • Hippocampus
  • Dopamine
  • Dentate Gyrus
  • Animals
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences